The present invention is directed to an amusement apparatus similar to a swamp airboat adapted for use in amusement parks or semi-trailer trucks which are devised for amusement rides.
There are many conventional varieties of amusement cars which are arranged for one or more passengers to control the movement and speed of the car upon a riding platform. The platform itself may take a variety of forms such as air flotation, caster wheels, and water flotation arrangements. In propelling these amusement cars, use is generally made of electrical motors providing rotational force to one or more driving wheels associated with a car. In the case of a water platform, use is made of moving water alone or in combination with a drive chain for carrying the car over areas which cannot be propelled by the use of water.
While the conventional amusement rides involve many forms of motion imparting devices for permitting the passengers to experience corresponding forms of thrill and amusement, none has been devised which will give the effect of a swamp airboat except for the use of such vehicles in the large expanses of swamps.
In the prior art, there are a variety of known adapted for movement on ice. Examples of airboats are illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,816,118; 2,855,885; 3,176,647; and 4,015,555. All of these vehicles employ a single propeller as a drive force and are not adapted for land travel at slow and very slow speeds suitable for use in the environment of an amusement park.
There are known amusement rides which employ boats movable on water or in combination with other means for supporting and propelling the boat. In U.S. Pat. No. 779,464, a vessel in a whirlpool amusement ride is supported for helical and downward movement by wheels movable upon suitable rails. Water cascades over the side walls and bottom portion of the vessel for desired water effects. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,448,306, a boat is chain driven and wheels are utilized to impart rocking motion to the boat. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,430, a boat guiding arrangement is disclosed for use in an amusement ride as including a rail submerged in water in order to guide the boat's movement along a predetermined course.
All of the amusement ride devices in the above-cited art fail in regard to the provision of random or free-wheeling motion. With respect to the airboat art, none of the patents disclose a twin propeller arrangement for steering purposes. Rather, the conventional air rudders or boat rudders are employed and operated in the conventional manner.